The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge from KFUO Radio

In a shocking break with convention, the Lutheran Ladies welcome a man (GASP!) into the Lounge as they introduce a new segment called Kitchen Table Talk, inspired by Martin Luther’s famous Reformation “table talk” conversations with his students.

In this debut episode, Rev. Sean Daenzer offers wise and friendly counsel on the theological hot topic of original sin. What does it mean that human beings not only commit sins but are actually born sinners? When and how was the doctrine of original sin first identified and developed? How do Jesus’ two natures (human and divine) get around this knotty problem and work together for our salvation? What about baptism? The so-called “age of accountability”? Concupiscence? (For that matter, what even is concupiscence?)

The Rev. Sean Daenzer serves as director of worship for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and as chaplain of the LCMS International Center in Saint Louis. A veteran guest of KFUO Radio programs including Concord Matters and Sharper Iron, Rev. Daenzer can now be heard regularly through his Daily Chapel sermons.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

It's a new Iron Ladle Challenge, and this time, the Ladies are tackling cookout side dishes!

Rachel begins with a rhapsodic ode to a Midwest classic: ramen noodle slaw. Sarah experiments with a new allergy- and intolerance-friendly medley of roasted veggies, and offers a bonus recipe for homemade sparkling ginger soda. Erin brings to the table a pair of vintage family recipes--for sour cream bean and tomato salad and champagne bean salad--and Bri goes full comfort-food with her favorite corn casserole.

Let your mouth water as you glean a few tasty ideas for your next summer cookout, picnic, or barbecue.

Rachel's Ramen Noodle Slaw

Ingredients

In a roomy bowl, combine:

• 1 bag coleslaw mix
• 2 packages crushed dry ramen noodles (prefer beef or soy sauce flavor; reserve sauce packet)
• Add-ins to taste*

In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, combine:

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable other other mild-tasting oil
• 2 ramen flavor packets

Instructions

Heat just until the sugar and flavorings are completely dissolved. Pour sauce over slaw. Mix (and mix well).

*Add-ins could include: toasted almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, toasted sesame seeds, slivered onions, slivered red cabbage, sliced green onions, chives, or scallions, pickled ginger, or french fried onions. Get creative!

Sarah's Sheet Pan Roasted Veggies

Ingredients

• 24oz chopped butternut squash
• 24oz chopped zucchini
• 12oz chopped broccoli

(Equal parts butternut and zucchini, half broccoli.)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400. Toss butternut in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly on large baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes, or until the butternut is starting to brown. While that’s baking, chop zucchini and broccoli. Keep separate. Toss both in olive oil, salt, pepper. (less is more.) Take butternut out, stir around. Layer zucchini on top, and broccoli on top. Put back in oven and bake about 20 more minutes until the broccoli is roasted on top and the zucchini is no longer hard.

• Find pre-chopped butternut unless you like cutting up a whole one.
• I quarter zucchini lengthwise and chop into ¼" ish slices, to make quarter rounds.
• Chop broccoli into bite-size pieces. (Or buy pre-cut. No shame.)
• I love olive oil, but too much will make it all mushy.
• Other herbs like rosemary, thyme, or some garlic would be delicious. Even a dash of parmesan at the end would be very good!
• I use Celtic salt for the flavor and minerals. Highly recommend.

Sarah's Homemade Ginger seltzer

First, ginger syrup from The Harvest Kitchen. Recipe: theharvestkitchen.com/ginger-syrup-recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup filtered water
• 1 cup fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced (about 4oz)
• 3/4 cup clover honey (add to taste!)

Instructions

1. Peel ginger and cut into pieces. (You don't have to peel it.)
2. Bring ginger and water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
4. Strain through a sieve and reserve ginger for another use or discard.
5. Set ginger water aside to cool for 5 minutes
6. Add honey 1/4 cup at a time and mix with water until honey dissolves and you achieve desired sweetness.
7. Pour ginger honey mixture in a glass jar and seal lid. Store in refrigerator.

Add mixture to plain sparkling water until desired sweet/spiciness is achieved! (I added a little more than half to 1 liter of water, and that was about right.)

Erin's Champagne Bean Salad

Serves a lot

Combine:

• 1 can each:
• Small Red Beans
• Garbanzo beans
• Black-eyed peas
• Pinto beans
• Cannellini beans
• And 1 small can of corn
• ½ c Red onion, finely chopped

Combine in another bowl until the sugar is dissolved:

• ¾ c champagne vinegar
• 3 T sugar
• 2 T olive oil
• ½ t salt

Optional: ¼ c cilantro, chopped

Mix it all together. It gets better the longer it sits. Eat it at room temperature if possible.

Serve with tortilla chips, or a spoon.

Erin's Sour Cream Green Bean and Tomato Salad

Serves 4-8

Mix A:

• ½ c sour cream
• ¼ c Italian dressing

Mix B:

• 2 c green beans, cut up (lightly cooked)
• 1 ½ c cherry tomatoes, sliced (or 2 medium tomatoes, cut up)
• ½ c chopped spring onion (or other onion)

Combine A. Add B and mix well. Chill 2 hours.

Bri's Corn Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can corn, drained well
• 1/3-1/2 cup sugar (I used a half because DUH)
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
3. Grease a 1 1/2 - 2 quart baking dish, pour in corn cake mixture.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until mixture is still just a tiny big jiggly in the center.
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5-10 minutes and serve.

Serves “6.”

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

Just in time for Armed Forces Sunday, Memorial Day, and Military Appreciation Month, Sarah tells the story of American military chaplaincy in general and LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces in particular.

Beginning with George Washington and the Revolutionary War and continuing through the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and later conflicts, this Story Time episode shines a spotlight on the work Lutheran chaplains have done to share the love of Christ with soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, coast guardsmen, guardians, and others.

For more information, visit the Ministry to the Armed Forces page at LCMS.org, where you can learn more about Operation Barnabas, the Adopt-a-Chap program, and more. Follow LCMS MAF on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter to read stories and see photos of chaplains in action.

To dig more deeply into the early history of LCMS military chaplaincy, check out They Shall Not March Alone: Glimpses into the Life and History of the Chaplaincy of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

For more bonus stories from this episode, read about Chaplain Gregory Todd's promotion to Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Navy, Chaplain Travis Ferguson's service in Qatar, and Chaplain Chad Czischke's service in Afghanistan.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

Across the LCMS, consecrated deaconesses share Christ's love through works of mercy, spiritual care, administration, and teaching. Yet many Lutherans remain largely uninformed about who these professional church workers are and how they serve.

In this One Question Interview, Deaconess Sarah Longmire begins with one big question (What even is a deaconess?), before satisfying the Ladies' curiosity on a number of related subjects: What does a deaconess do? How are deaconesses formed and trained? How are they different from other church workers, especially pastors? What common misconceptions exist about deaconess ministry?

Deaconess Sarah Longmire is president of the Concordia Deaconess Conference, a free association of LCMS-rostered deaconesses and LCMS-certified deaconess candidates who subscribe to and live by the confessional position of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and who hold membership in a congregation or partner church of the same.

Click to learn more about the Concordia Deaconess Conference or LCMS Deaconess Ministry.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

In her latest “Big Question” conversation, Bri tackles one of the major conundrums of contemporary culture: What is cancel culture? And, more importantly: How can Lutherans best respond to this painful and contentious new reality?

The Ladies begin by defining basic terms before diving into how the Bible and the Lutheran confessions may apply. They then explore several practical implications: Can and should Christians ever cancel each other? What do you do when you are tempted to cancel somebody? How can you avoid cancelling others and being cancelled yourself? What can you do if you find that, despite your best efforts to make peace, you have been cancelled for your Christian statements and beliefs?

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

These familiar words from Psalm 23 and John 10 have been cherished by Christians throughout the ages for the deep comfort they bring. Also beloved are the hymns inspired by them—and it is these “Good Shepherd” hymns that are the focus in this Easter season Hymn Sing with Sarah episode.

Beginning with a broader discussion of the historical names and meanings of the Sundays between Easter and Pentecost (Quasimodo Geniti, Misericordias Domini, Jubilate, Cantate, Rogate, and Exaudi), Sarah then hones in on hymns and readings for Misericordias Domini ("the steadfast love of the Lord”), known in common parlance as Good Shepherd Sunday.

Sarah tells the stories behind three of the most popular Good Shepherd hymns—“The King of Love My Shepherd Is” (LSB 709), “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (LSB 710), and “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” (LSB 711)—before inviting Erin, Bri, and Rachel to discuss their own favorite hymns in the genre.

Links referenced in this episode include:

• The original tune for LSB 709 (“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”)
• A favorite homily on the Good Shepherd by the Rev. William Weedon

Special thanks to Cantor Phillip Magness and Luther Gulseth for recording these hymns for this episode.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

Recently, more and more Lutheran women have expressed curiosity in the ancient Christian practice of female head covering.

In this wildest of Wild Card episodes, Rachel delves deeply into the history and meaning of veiling, examining the New Testament and its cultural context, the teachings of the Early Church Fathers, the Medieval art traditions, Luther’s writings, the Lutheran Confessions, and other sources as she seeks to better understand this now generally defunct tradition.

Why did most married Christian women faithfully cover their heads during worship (and in many cases, in all public settings) throughout the first 1900+ years of the Church’s history? And given this long history, why—and how—was the practice almost universally abandoned by Western Christians in the twentieth century?

Sources referenced in this episode include:

• “Christian head covering” (Wikipedia)
• “Homily 26 on 1 Corinthians” (Chrysostom/NewAdvent.org)
• “A Survey of the History of the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16” (A. Philip Brown II)
• “Medieval Women Unveiled: Fashion, Gender, and Piety” (ArtUK)
• Luther on Women: A Sourcebook
• The Augsburg Confession, Article 28
• “When Going Out without a Hat Was Grounds for Scandal” (Atlas Obscura)
• Women in the Church: Scriptural Principles and Ecclesial Practice (LCMS CTCR)

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

Which Lutheran ladies do the Lutheran Ladies want to be when they grow up?

In this four-segment Sharathon episode, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel each consider and describe one or more heroines of the faith who exemplify the kind of Lutheran woman they hope to become. From math teachers to missionary mentors, from beloved grandmothers to authors who play beloved grandmothers on the radio for April Fool’s Day, listeners to this episode will be introduced to an inspiring assortment of Lutheran ladies well worth emulating.

The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge podcast is produced by KFUO Radio, the listener-supported broadcast voice of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. To support the work of KFUO Radio during Sharathon (or anytime) visit kfuo.org/give or text “KFUO” to 41444.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

In this special Holy Week episode, the Ladies welcome international missionary Angie Sharp into the Lounge—all the way from Montevideo, Uruguay!

Angie, a missionary educator, serves alongside her husband, the Rev. James Sharp, as they work to plant churches, teach the faith, and support local mercy work and community building activities. In this eye-opening and inspiring conversation, she shares what it’s like to celebrate Holy Week and Easter in what is arguably the most secular nation in Latin America.

Click to learn more about the Sharps and their work in Uruguay or to support them with your prayers and gifts.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

How do Easter egg traditions enrich our celebrations of Christ’s resurrection?

In this Wild Card episode, the Ladies recount their own family Easter egg and Easter basket traditions past and present before accompanying Bri on a hilarious grand tour of Easter egg customs around the world. From egg-rolling in Scotland to egg showers (cascarones) in Mexico to the elaborately decorated pysanky of Ukraine, Bri provides a brief description of each practice, before offering a highly subjective (and, it turns out, occasionally debatable) score for each.

If you want to try something new and bring some international flair to your own Easter festivities, Bri’s round-up will provide you with a wealth of meaningful multi-cultural ideas.

For further reading, check out “Top Eight Easter Egg Traditions from around the World” from Language Connections.

To learn more about the Easter vigil service mentioned in the program, listen to our 2021 interview with church musician Emmy Woock.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].